​Andrew Whitehead'sBlog

_ I may be coming late to the party, but I have only just found out that the great Peggy Seeger once wrote a song about a big rent strike and bust-up here in Kentish Town.

I owe this 32-carat nugget to the broadcaster and oral historian Alan Dein, who has spoken to veterans of the rent strike. And of course, there's a good story behind the song.

Back in the summer of 1960, a long standing grievance among tenants of the borough of St Pancras brewed up into an almighty row. It reached a climax in September when two tenants - yes, 'Cook and Rowe', Don Cook and Arthur Rowe - sought to challenge eviction orders by barricading themselves in their flats. They used bedsteads, barbed wire and a remarkable number of old pianos to keep police and bailiffs at bay.

_The key battle ground was at Kennistoun House on Leighton Road, where there is to this day a plaque 'in memory of Don Cook and the rent battles of 1959-1964'.

One evening in late September, hundreds of police descended on Kennistoun House. Yes, literally - breaking into one of the flats through the roof. A large crowd quickly assembled in support of the rent strikers.

The photo below - which Alan Dein sent me - shows Peter Richards (like Cook, a former soldier and a CP'er) addressing a meeting in support of the rent strike.

Peter Richards / Kings Cross Voices

You can get a marvellous sense of the drama, and the level of political engagement, in a wonderful Pathe news reel of the rent strike available to view on line, Eviction Battle On! It features both Don Cook and Arthur Rowe.

The forced evictions and protests they triggered were big news - and clearly attracted the attention of Peggy Seeger, who wrote 'Hey Ho, Cook and Rowe' and recorded it with Ewan MacColl. If you click on the arrow below, you can here the full recording - posted here with Peggy Seeger's blessing - distinctly dated, but wonderfully so. And below there's a taste of the lyrics - you can find them in full, with much other background, here:

CLICK ON THE ARROW BELOW TO HEAR 'Hey Ho, Cook and Rowe'

_HEY HO! COOK AND ROWE! (or: The Landlord's Nine Questions) Words and Music by Peggy Seeger

As true a story I'll relate (With a) HEY HO! COOK AND ROWE! How the landlord told Don Cook one night, (With a) HEY HO! COOK AND ROWE! You must answer questions nine (With a) HEY HO! COOK AND ROWE! To see if your flat is yours or mine (With a) HEY HO! COOK AND ROWE!

CHORUS: Hey, ho, tell them no With a barb-wire fence and a piano, Took a thousand cops to make them go, Three cheers for Cook and Rowe!

What is higher than a tree? (With a, etc.) And what is lower than a flea? My rent is higher than a tree, And the landlord's lower than a flea. (CHORUS)

There's another photo of the rent strike, and some links to sites with more information, at the bottom of this web page.

The local council of the London Borough of St. Pancras raised the rents of its municipal flats. Two WWII veterans, Don Cook and Arthur Rowe, organised a rent strike which immediately became a focus of national interest. When the bailiffs were sent in, it took on the character of a military siege. The tenants barricaded the buildings with barb-wire, old pianos and junk of all kinds. From all over the country, sympathisers sent a constant supply of tinned food. Actors, dancers, singers and comedians would turn up unexpectedly at the house to entertain the strikers and their supporters. Television coverage provided Britain with one of its most popular daily shows. Finally, an army of police and bailiffs batonned their way through a sea of demonstrators and entered the house at its only vulnerable point: the roof. Cook, Rowe and Co. greeted them with the offer of a cup of tea.